My Dad passed away a week ago so we are having a hard time trying to decide what to do about Thanksgiving. Mom is homebound so we are unable to go out and have no near realitives. Mom likes white meat and I like dark. I have talked to the butcher and he has told me that he can split a fresh turkey in half for me. Has anyone ever done this? How should I cook it if I decide to do this?

At first I was thinking that I would make a bed of dressing to bake the bird on but fear this would be greasy because of the drippings. Also there would be no pan drippings for the gravy.

A friend suggested the crock pot but I do not think a half would fit in our crock. Again we would not have drippings for gravy.

My family has done a turkey breast and a leg with no problem. Stuffing was just done as a side dish along with the other vegetables. I would even check out the local deli's to see what might be offered precooked. It's not really a time for anyone to struggle in the kitchen.

I'm actually going to be doing a turkey breast in the crockpot this year just to keep it simple.

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__________________Support bacteria. It's the only culture some people have.

Oh Auntie, So sorry to hear of your lose. My mom passed 11/08/06. We didn't do anything that or last year. And this year is tough too. But I'm determined to pull it off.

I, living alone, do buy a 1/2 breast from time to time. I love turkey anytime of year. It gives me plenty of leftovers for sandwiches and dinner.
I don't like dark meat. And since I can't give turkey to the dog, this suits me fine.
I make dressing, just like for a whole bird, but invert the breast, place stuffing in that concave cavity and cook for maybe 45 minutes covered. Then I take the bird out of the oven, scoop out stuffing and place in a corningware dish, cover and complete cooking. At the same time, I turn bird over, skin up, uncover and finish cooking.
I'm sure you could do the same with 1/2 bird. You still get the juices, moist meat, and tasty stuffing.
Lip smacking good.
Life is about changes, but no one said they're all good. But you don't have to do without good eats.
Hope this helped.

Auntie, so sorry to hear about the passing of your Dad, and especially around the holidays, it seems even sadder.

Every Thanksgiving I always do half the bird, but only the breast. We still want the stuffing and the pan gravy that comes with an oven roasted bird so what I do is make the stuffing, just as if a whole bird would be roasted. I place the stuffing onto heavy duty aluminum foil, and then place that onto the rack that comes with the roasting pan, then spread open the breast and plop that on top of the stuffing. The pan rack with the stuffing and bird on top then go into the roasting pan, then into the oven and is roasted accordinly.

I have also used an aluminum foil pan small enough to fit the stuffing AND to fit under the bird. There's not as much drippings with just the white meat, but whatever is there, still falls into the roasting pan, to make that yummy gravy.

Hope this gives you some ideas!

__________________I cook with wine.......sometimes I even add it to food!

Auntie, so sorry to hear about the passing of your Dad, and especially around the holidays, it seems even sadder.

Every Thanksgiving I always do half the bird, but only the breast. We still want the stuffing and the pan gravy that comes with an oven roasted bird so what I do is make the stuffing, just as if a whole bird would be roasted. I place the stuffing onto heavy duty aluminum foil, and then place that onto the rack that comes with the roasting pan, then spread open the breast and plop that on top of the stuffing. The pan rack with the stuffing and bird on top then go into the roasting pan, then into the oven and is roasted accordinly.

I have also used an aluminum foil pan small enough to fit the stuffing AND to fit under the bird. There's not as much drippings with just the white meat, but whatever is there, still falls into the roasting pan, to make that yummy gravy.

Hope this gives you some ideas!

The only way I thought about cooking the half was with the cut side down on a bed of dressing. By turning the bird over I will still have a nice holder for some stuffing and get my drippings. Dah! Just goes to show you how my mind is not working. This will be perfect. After I take the dressing out I will flip the bird for the browning process. To keep the breast meat moist, I have been cooking our whole bird breast side down for about 2/3s of the time then flipping for several years.